Phuket Big Buddha, or The Great Buddha of Phuket, is a seated Maravija Buddha statue in

Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. The official name is Phra Phutta Ming Mongkol Eknakiri ( th, พระพุทธมิ่งมงคลเอกนาคคีรี; ), shortened to Ming Mongkol Buddha. Sitting atop Nakkerd Hill (also spelt Nagakerd) near Chalong, construction began in 2004. Expansion of the base was ongoing as of 2015. By 2017, 80 percent of the project had been completed. It is the third-tallest statue in Thailand behind only the

Great Buddha of Thailand The Great Buddha of Thailand, also known as The Big Buddha, The Big Buddha of Thailand, Phra Buddha Maha Nawamin, and Mahaminh Sakayamunee Visejchaicharn ( th, พระพุทธมหานวมินทรศากยมุนีศรี� ...

and

Luangpho Yai Luangpho Yai ( th, หลวงพ่อใหญ่, ), also known as Phra Phutta Rattana Mongkhol Maha Munee ( th, พระพุทธรัตนมงคลมหามุนี, ), and The Great Buddha of Roi Et, is the fourth-tallest statu ...

. The Buddha statue depicts

Gautama Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

in a sitting position ( Maravichai: มารวิชัย) and is tall and wide. It is made of concrete and covered with Burmese white marble. Facing towards Ao Chalong Bay the statue is the main Buddha of the Wat Kitthi Sankaram temple (Wat Kata). The statue was declared the "Buddhist Treasure of Phuket" by Somdet Phra Yanasangwon, the

Supreme Patriarch of Thailand __NOTOC__ The Supreme Patriarch of Thailand or Sangharaja ( th, สังฆราช; ) is the head of the order of Buddhist monks in Thailand. His full title is ''Somdet Phra Saṅgharāja Sakalamahāsaṅghapariṇāyaka'' ( th, สมเด� ...

, in 2008. The statue cost 30 million

Baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. Society for Worldw ...

(approx. $950,000 US in February 2019), sourced primarily from donations. It was built legally in a national conserved forest with the approval of Thai Royal Forest Department.

Names

The statue's official name is Phra Phutta Ming Mongkol Eknakakiri ( th, พระพุทธมิ่งมงคลเอกนาคคีรี), which means "the Cherished Auspicious Lord Buddha atop

Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

Hill". The name is a blend of native Thai, Sanskrit, and Pali words – the first element Phra Phutta (Sanskrit ) means "Lord Buddha"; the second element Ming Mongkol means "cherished and auspicious"; the third element Eknakagiri (from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

) means "atop Naga Hill".

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External links

{{coord, 7.827598, 98.312853, region:TH_type:landmark, display=title Outdoor sculptures in Thailand Colossal Buddha statues Buildings and structures in Phuket province Buddha statues in Thailand

Names

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External links